Door structure



W. P. GAISER DOOR STRUCTURE Oct. 1, 1929.

Filed Sept. 13. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 WW. I

ATTORNEY Oct. 1, 1929. w, GAISER 1,729,825

' DOOR S'IRUC'IZIIIREI Filed Sept. 13, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 VENTOR It ,0 1156/ ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 1, 1929- WILLIAM I. GAISER, OF WIGHITA, KANSAS DOOR STRUCTURE Application filed September'13, 1826. Serial No. 135,088.

This invention relates primarily to closures for openings but more particularly to sliding doors for vehicles. p'anying drawings illustrate the invention as applied to the rear end of a vehicle, it being vious, however, that in certainaspectsit is applicable to other uses, so I do not wish to be limited to the exact details shown,

Covered vehicles 'such as motor vehicles trucks and the like'usua'lly have swinging hinged doors for covering the back of the body. These are objectionable because when they are swung to open positions that extend beyond the sides of the body, they are liable to become broken. Another disadvantage is that the swinging doors'have inset panels so that the surfaces of the doors are not smooth, consequently it is diflicult to prop; erly form sign letters on the rear doors. When the doors become broken the repairs are relatively expensive but none of the above numerated disadvantages are present in' the structure embodying my invention. As a matter of fact there is anappreciable ease in manipulating the door, the subject matter of my invention, since it can easily be raised to open position. The doors constructed in accordance with my invention may be installed withoutsacrificing any of the cargo space 3 of the vehicleand the flat unbroken surface v makes it easy to paint an artistic sign on the door. This is due to the factthat the door comprises a plurality of hinged metal panels having substantially abutting edges. The panels are hinged together so that they can slide in grooves around the open edge of the vehicle body on relative short arcs, thisvbeing an advantage since the body can be made substantially rectangular to preserve the cargo space.

This invention also contemplates anovel means and method for joining or hinging'the several panels one to the other.

The/novel features of my'invention will 4:. be clearly understood by the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a'fragmentary rear perspective view of avehicle body to which my invention is applied.

The 'accom- Fig. 2 is'a perspective View of two joined sectionsof the door.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view through a die for forming the hinged joint between two adjacent sections, the mandrel and sleeve being in positions to receive the edges of the plates forming the sections.

Fig. 4 is a similar view of the forming die showing the positions of the mandrel, sleeve ant} plates'after the hinged joint is formed, an c Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a support for one of the guides.

The body of the vehicle may conformin general principles to any inclosing structure. It is illustrated as consisting of the sides 1v and 2, the bottom 3 and the top 4. At the rear end of the vehicle is an openin 6 adapted to be covered and uncovered by t e door, to

be hereinafter described. The rear end of 7 the vehicle bodyis provided with channelshaped guide members 7 and 8wliich extend vertically from the bottom of the vehicle body to substantially the top, to provide .vertical legs '9 and 10, the guide members being provided with horizontal legs 11 and 12 connected to the vertical legs by intermediate curve portions 13 and 14, the connecting por-1 tionsare curved on relatively short arcs preferably generated from the four inch radius. At thecurve portions, the lower flanges of the channel-shaped guides are cut away for portions. of their width as indicated at 15 and 16 for a reason which will presently be apparent. It will be seenthat each guide 5 7' and 8 has a vertical leg and a horizontal leg connected by a curved intermediate portion. These receive the t'runnions and the, edges of the panels or sectionswhich when hinged together constitute the closure for the rear opening. The panelsections are best ilustrated in F ig.. 2. Two panels are here shown designated 17 and 18. The panel17 is illustrated as having an inset transparent panel 19 bymeans'of which light may be admitted into the vehicle body; In other respects the panel 17 corresponds with the panel '18. The panel 19 may be omitted in some instances or as many may be used as is found expedient. Each panel is preferably provided near its end edges with pressed ribs 20 and 21 which reinforce the sheet of which the panel unit consists.

The adjacent panels are hinged together 'by. a novel method. The mechanism for carrying out the method is best illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, which consists of a split outer member or tube 22 within which is a mandrel 23 havin a sheet receiving groove 24. The edges 0 two adjacent sheets are placed in the groove as shown in Fig. 3. Then the mandrel is turned by any appropriate mechanism in aclock-wise direction to wind the two edges in parallel relation within the space 25 between the mandrel and'the sleeve. The meeting edges of the two sheets are thus wound in tubular form one upon the other, to form an interlocking hinge. The sheets may now be drawn off the mandrel and from the sleeve in interlocked engagement. The door a may be made up of an appropriate number of the panel sections, the edges 26 and 27 being cut inward from the ends so as to provide projections 28, 29, 30 and 31, which extend into the grooves and constitute trunnions for the door sections. The flanges of the guides over-lap the edges 26 and 27 of the door section so that a comparatively tight closure can be made. When the door is raised to move the top sections into the horizontal legs, the flat portions of the panel sections would have a tendency to bind against the-lower flanges of the curve portions of the guides. In or to prevent this binding I have cut away the lower flanges at 15 and 16 as shown in Fig. 1 retaining enough flange width 'to constitute a guide for the trunnion passing over it. Thus I am enabled to generate the curve of a relatively small radius. The bottom panel section may have a handle 32 and an appropriate lock may be employed if desired.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a form of securing the guide channels to the body of the veshap'ed guides within the opening, each guide having a vertical leg and a horizontal leg connected by a curved intermediate portion, the lower flange of each channel being only partly cut away at the point of curvature, the inner flanges of the remaining portions of the vertical leg and the horizontal leg of each guide thereby being wider than the cut away portion of each guide, relatively wide fiat hinged panels bridging the gap between the guides, and trunnions on the hinged panels movable continuously over the lower flanges of the guides.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

WILLIAM P. GAISER.

hicles. In this form an upright post 33 is provided against which a channel 34; correspending to the channels 7 and-8 may be fastened by screws 35 or other suitable devices. The outstanding flanges36 and 37 may be reinforced by the strips 38 and 39, which may be nailed or screwed to the post 33, the strips 38 and 39 abutting against the flan es 36 and 37, the combined width of the mem ers 34, 38 and 39 being equal to the width of the post 33. This makes a rigid guide structurebut it may not be necessarily employed under all conditions.

I may make other changes or modifications "without departing from the spirit of the invention, so I reserve the right to make such changes as properly come within the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is In combination an inclosing vehicle body having an open rear end. spaced channel- 

